HOULTON, Maine — The RSU 29 board unanimously approved Monday, May 4, a $15.1 million budget for the 2020-21 school year that features a 3.61 percent increase over the current spending plan.
At $15,157,592, the budget is an increase of $528,357 over the current fiscal year.
RSU 29 Superintendent Ellen Halliday said the budget was put together with an emphasis on placing as little stress on the taxpayers as possible.
“We know this is going to be a hard budget year,” Halliday said. “We can only imagine with everything that has gone on with COVID-19 that there will be stress for our federal, state and local finances. The budget we put together is one that tries to not add to that stress, but still allows us to do the things that we need to do to meet the needs of our students.”
Residents will have an opportunity to ask questions and vote on the budget at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 2, at the district budget meeting at the school’s auditorium. Halliday said the state guidelines for gatherings in June expand to 50 people. If more than 50 people show up, the school’s gymnasium will be opened for those individuals to gather.
“We know that we are in a financially difficult time,” explained board CChairman Fred Grant. “Things will look a little different this year, but we will figure those out as we move along.”
Last year, voters in RSU 29 approved a plan to do away with a second referendum vote for the next three years. That means the June 2 meeting will be the only opportunity for people to cast their vote on the proposed budget, unless the budget fails to pass at that meeting.
RSU 29 will receive $11,336,068 from the state for its contribution for education. That amount is an increase of $697,670 over last year’s figure. Over the last two years, the district has seen its state contribution increase by more than $1 million.
The state contribution figure has risen steadily over the past decade. For comparison, in 2011-12, RSU 29 received $8,466,083 in state subsidies.
In order to receive those funds, the district must provide $3,187,064 for its required local share of the budget. That amount is down $33,718 from last year and continues the trend of a decreased local share. Many other school districts in the area are seeing their state funds slashed or local shares increased.
RSU 29 also will not need to raise any additional local dollars to balance its budget as many other school districts must do. Additional local dollars are needed whenever a district is spending more than the state says it should be in order to provide Essential Programs and Services.
The district plans to use $350,000 from the carry forward account of the 2019-20 budget. Those funds are money that was budgeted in the current fiscal year, but not spent. In addition, the district will use $114,459 from its undesignated fund to help lower the tax commitment.
The rise in spending is due to a number of factors, Halliday said. Some of those include increases in wages and benefits for teachers and substitute teachers; increased personnel that includes expanding a part-time school nurse at Houlton Elementary School to full time and adding a social worker position; programming needs to include a new math series; and upgrades to LED lights; paving; and the lease purchase of one new school bus.
